RESIDENTS keen to stop the only pub in their village from being converted into a home, have launched a campaign to save it.
After being closed for a year, owner of the Bridge Inn at Whorlton, Ivan Carter-Becker, applied for permission to convert the historic pub into a private home, a move which upset local residents who are concerned about losing a “vital community asset”.
The grade II listed Bridge Inn, has been registered as an asset of community value, has been marketed for sale at £350,000 with Barnard Castle-based estate agents, GSC Gray, and the community has six months to put together a bid to save their watering hole.
The Whorlton Community Benefit Society committee was formed to lead the bid and published an open letter to rally residents behind their campaign to save the pub.
Resident Elisa Hargreaves, chairwoman of the committee, said: “We feel very passionately that the loss of the pub would be an immense blow to the community and its history. The pub is far more than a place to have a pint. It’s a much-needed space where residents and visitors alike can come together to meet, socialise and support one another. Sadly, we live in a time of a loneliness epidemic and now more than ever before we need a community hub.”
The proposal is to raise enough money through a shareholder model to buy, renovate and maintain the Bridge Inn as a community pub before finding a tenant to run it.
A public meeting has been called for Thursday, May 8, at 6pm in the village hall to gauge the level of support and launch the shareholder scheme.
Ms Hargreaves added: “We will be doing a questionnaire for people to ask how they would use the pub, and we would love to hear from people with ideas and suggestions.
“For me, perhaps it’s because I’m an eternal optimist, but I feel strong that it is worth it to try. What have we got to lose? Everything. The Bridge Inn has been a pub since the 1800s.”
The group wants to raise enough cash through the shareholder offer to buy, renovate and maintain the pub as well as appointing a tenant to run it, with individual shares priced at £250.
The campaign has already received the backing from the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), whose members will be attending the meeting.
Ms Hargreaves, who works as a sales professional in the software industry, added: “It is more than just a pub. It is somewhere to meet and socialise, have a coffee and a cake, a pit stop when you are on a walk.
“The bridge is on track to open again this year and when it does there will be walkers and cyclists coming through the village so there will be lots more passing trade.
“People could pop in for a coffee and a cake while they are on a walk; cyclists could stop in for a pit stop.
“It is not just the people in Whorlton but the wider community. Where do they go for a chat and to socialise?”
She added: “By the community owning the pub it can be for the community. I’m not suggesting the share dividends will be the best return, but it will preserve the pub and ensure it will be there as a social, community hub for future generations.
“I just think we have to give it a go because once it is gone, it’s gone and won’t be back. If we are successful and we find it is not viable at least we can say we did our best.”
“I really feel confident we can make a go of it. The main message is we have to give it a go, because when it is gone, it is gone.”
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